Soaring Eagle Lodge

You don’t ALWAYS have to use #24 emergers to catch big trout on New Mexico’s San Juan River. Larry Johnson of Soaring Eagle Lodge displays a 23” rainbow caught on a streamer. Sure, he’s holding it out close to the camera, but 23” is 23” no matter how long your arms are.

Check out the Soaring Eagle Lodge website at http://www.soaringeaglelodge.net

or give them a call at 505-632-3721. Good fishing, excellent food, riverside accomidations.

Typical San Juan rainbow

Catfish on a fly rod

You never know what you’ll catch on a fly rod when you think you’re bass fishing.

This catfish hit a purple #2 Conehead Bunnybou at Kill Creek Lake. I haven’t read my “Catfish At A Distance” book so I don’t know what particular species of catfish it was. All I know is that it was over two feet long and didn’t seem too happy with the idea of being caught.

I didn’t have a net so I lipped it. Right. You think I’m gonna stick my hand in a mouth like that? I unhooked it and turned it loose before it could hurt me.

Big cat on a fly rod

Kill Creek Lake

Whether you’re a bank fisherman or a boater, 28-acre Kill Creek Lake, between De Soto and Olathe, south of KS highway 10 is a beautiful place to fish. The park opened in 2001 and, assuming the lake was impounded and stocked at that time, it should contain some sizeable bass. I fish it often and have yet to catch any two pounds or larger, but the smaller bass are healthy, scrappy, and fun to catch on a fly rod.

In addition to a healthy largemouth bass population Kill Creek Lake supposedly contains walleye, smallmouth bass, wipers, channel cat, crappie, bluegill, and green sunfish.

The east portion of the lake contains standing timber and the rest has quite a bit of sub-surface cover. Look for it with your depth finder. Gasoline motors are not allowed but the lake is small enough to navigate safely with an electric motor.

There are usually some families or couples bank fishing but I’ve seen few other boats on the water.

I fished it yesterday from 5:30PM to 9PM and boated six bass. The fly of the day was a  #2 black sparkle grub.

A Johnson County Parks & Recreation permit is required for anglers 16 to 64. Geezers like me fish for free.

Big fly-little bass
Sparkle grub

Trail Cam Bucks

Two nice bucks  tripped Scott Morgan’s trail cam near Baldwin City, KS recently. Wouldn’t you like to see these two guys on opening morning! Click on the photos to enlarge them.

If you’re hoping to buy a trail cam soon (as I am) Scott says you can’t go wrong with  Reconyx . They’re expensive but worth it.

 

 

 

Fishing Knots Made Easy

It’s too hot to fish, you’re tired of tying flies and you’ve re-read all your fishing books. Now’s the time to work on your knots. By next summer you may be able to tie an Albright knot without looking at the instructions.

NetKnots.com is a good place to start. This site features easy-to-follow visual instructions for tying most fishing knots. But beware…if you get too good at it you may become a knotaholic, in which case you should join Knotaholics Anonymous. When the urge to tie knots becomes unbearable you can call a fellow member and he (or she) will come over and drink with you until the urge passes.

Another Huge Trout From Lake Taneycomo

Fishing with friends Gerry Dwiggns and Tom Burckhardt, Phil Lilley, long-time owner of Lilley’s Landing resort and marina on Lake Taneycomo, recently caught and released a 29” rainbow. The huge trout hit a 3/32 oz. brown and orange jig near the old Fall Creek ramp.

I’ve stayed at Phil’s place many times and highly recommend it. Give him a call at (417) 334-6380 and check out his website www.lilleyslanding.com .

Taneycomo 29" rainbow trout

Posts from Dave Zumbaugh: Olympic Shooting Sports

As anticipated by target shooting enthusiasts, one of the greatest Olympic accomplishments in the celebrated history of the games was mostly ignored by media coverage. Kim Rhode became the first U.S. athlete to medal in five consecutive Olympiads. Kim broke 99 out of 100 clay targets to earn the gold in the Women’s Skeet Competition in London. NBC did not even break into other TV coverage to give a brief announcement of this spectacular win and the KC Star buried it on page 6 in the Monday Sports Section. While skeet shooting is certainly not as popular in today’s culture as women’s gymnastics or swimming, shouldn’t world class performance and accomplishments also be showcased?

 In double record-setting fashion, Sgt. Vincent Hancock became the first shotgun shooter to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in men’s skeet on Tuesday at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Hancock, 23, a Soldier in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit from Eatonton, Ga., eclipsed his own records set at the 2008 Beijing Games for a new qualification  record of 123 and total score of 148. He struck gold in China with a qualification score of 121 and total of 145.

Hancock prevailed by two shots over silver medalist Anders Golding (146) of Denmark and by four shots over Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiya (144), who secured the bronze medal by winning a shoot-off against Russia’s Valeriy Shomin, who is ranked No. 2 in the world.

“Being able to stand up there again and listen to the national anthem again, it’s got to be better,” said Hancock, who also holds the world records for skeet qualification (125) and final (150) scores. “It hasn’t set in fully yet, but going out there and doing it again and taking the opportunity God’s given me to get back out on the field to compete for the gold medal again, there’s just no feeling like it.”

Olathe Cedar Lake

In an attempt to beat the heat Don Francis and I fished Olathe Cedar Lake from 7:30 AM to 9 AM today. This is an old lake, right off I-35, that winds through the suburban countryside like a miniature Lake of the Ozarks. It’s rumored to have a healthy population of large crappie. We talked to a kid who claimed to have caught a sixteen incher the day before while fishing from the dam. Don caught one small crappie this morning. I managed to boat a 4” green sunfish on my 7-weight fly rod after a lengthy struggle.

 I wouldn’t consider this lake a fishing destination but I may return in the spring to see if I can tempt some of those alleged mammoth crappie.

Stone cabin on south shore of Olathe Cedar Lake

 

The Hartell Conservation Area northeast of Plattsburg, MO

Hartell Conservation Area

My first time to this beautiful area. Several small  ponds. Two are managed for “trophy bass”, two others for “trophy bluegills” That doesn’t necessarily mean there are any “trophies” in them. It’s all C&R, which makes no sense to me on the bluegills . I’ve always been lead to believe you need to keep removing some fish for the others to grow big. Oh well, nice day to be outdoors.  I fished 5.10 acre “Picnic Lake”  2.5 hours in mid-day.  Didn’t catch any fish but had some strikes. Anyone who hasn’t fished this area should try it. Only 66 miles from my house in Prairie Village, KS.

The White River near Mountain Home, AR

Guide Miles Riley

Wednesday, May 22, 2012

Solo trip to  fish the White river. Wadeable water all day. I fished one of my favorite spots, Rim Shoal in the morning and only had three strikes.  After lunch I headed for Wildcat Shoal and tore them up on soft hackles, including a nice 16 -18” brown and a rainbow almost that big. And there wasn’t another angler in sight all afternoon!

Thursday, May 23, 2012

Fished with guide Miles Riley all day. We motored up to Buffalo Shoal where we had the area all to ourselves and I caught many rainbows, a few browns, and even a couple of smallmouth bass. Fly of the day was a #12 olive/black woollybugger.

Miles’ place Riley’s Station sits at the confluence of the Buffalo and White rivers near Buffalo City. Miles is a hard-working, knowledgeable guide. You can reach Riley’s Station at 870-425-4221 or via email at [email protected]. Check their website rileysstation.com.